Ancestry DNA

I recently had an Ancestry DNA test done. The process is clean, well-designed and private: 10ccs of spittle in a plastic container sent off in a pre-addressed package identifiable to the testers only by a reference number. Once the test is complete – only a matter of weeks – the results are available using the reference number.

Until recently, most genealogical DNA testing focused on the Y chromosome for direct male father-to-son descents, or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for mother-to-daughter descent. In both cases, the tests seek out small inherited mutations. By comparing the results of large reference groups, it is possible to infer roughly when and where each mutation first arose and, by extension, the most recent common ancestor of everyone whose DNA includes that mutation. The rate of change on the Y chromosome is much faster than for mtDNA, and the inheritance from father to son mimics European surname inheritance, so Y DNA testing has long been the most genealogically useful.

ancestrydna-welcomeWhat Ancestry does is different. It is an autosomal DNA test, taking samples from across the entire genome, all 23 chromosomes, rather than just part of a single sub-chromosome. They test 730,525 points, over 7% of the entire genome. Even three years ago, industrial DNA-testing on this scale was barely imaginable, and it makes possible broad-brush comparisons on a completely new scale.

What do those broad-brush comparisons tell you? Ancestry uses the results in two ways. First comes an “ethnicity estimate”,  giving a percentage match to each of 26 ethnic groups. Second is a search across other Ancestry test results to uncover unsuspected 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins.

So when I got the email saying my test was complete, I was like a child on Christmas morning. Would I be 40% Iberian, 10% Eastern European, 20% Finnish? Third cousins in Hawaii, please, please, please.

No. Apparently, I’m 98% Irish. After trying to choose which of my treacherous Brit fingernails to pull out in order to make the 100%, I took a closer look at the way the results are created. There’s a margin of error of +/- 5%. So I could actually be 103% Irish – Hiberniores Hibernicis ipsis, more Irish than the Irish themselves. Wrap the green flag round me, boys.

pathetic 95-percenters
Pathetic wannabe 95-per-centers

More seriously, that 98% points up the limits of autosomal testing. It is very broad, but also very shallow, its accuracy limited to four generations, great-great-grandparents. This is because you get half your DNA from each parent, who each got half from their parents and  so on, halving with each generation. As a result, the amount you share with any of your great-great-grandparents is just 6.25%.

I already know who all my great-great-grandparents were and where they lived, all along the Galway/Roscommon border, God help them. Not a Finn or a Polynesian among them. So Ancestry was telling me nothing I didn’t know.

Ethnicity is also much slipperier and more dangerous terrain that Ancestry seems to realise. In the US, being “Irish” or “Italian” or “Polish” is an interesting twist on basic American-ness: it might be pistachio or vanilla, but it’s still ice-cream. In Europe, we spent most of the 20th century fighting genocidal wars that revolved around a toxic mix of  ethnicity and nationalism. Not ice-cream at all.

The second part of the Ancestry DNA experience is genuinely useful, though. On Ancestry itself, I found four third-cousin families, all of whom have extended family histories about which I knew nothing.

And when I uploaded my results to the open-source GedMatch.com, I found even more, and closer connections.

The Ancestry test costs £99 and is well worth it, especially if your main interest is the broader extended family. Just take the ethnicity side of things with a grain of salt.

 

 

12 thoughts on “Ancestry DNA”

  1. Make sure you also do the Autosomal DNA transfer to add your results to the Family Tree DNA Family Finder database:

    https://www.familytreedna.com/learn/imports/transfer-autosomal-ancestry/family-tree-dna-family-finder-transfer-program/

    You have to pay a small fee to unlock the rest of your matches. At FTDNA you can also join projects. There are a number of different projects for Ireland. Some projects only focus on the Y but an increasing number are now accepting autosomal DNA results:

    http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Geographical_DNA_projects#I

  2. I took the test last year & had my brother take one too. I was also surprised to find that I’m 100% Irish–even with a greatx3 grandmother that came from Brittany! I think that DNA testing is evolving and results in several years time will be different (with advances in technology) than today. Unfortunately I didn’t find any new cousins but some possibilities worth looking at further. Thanks for this. When John Grenham has taken the DNA, it is worth doing for the rest of us!

  3. Does it matter if you take the test with Ancestry UK or .com? And, do you have to have a current Ancestry subscription to benefit from this?

    1. If you live in Ireland, ancestry.co.uk will be administering it (and booking the profit). You don’t have to have be a paying subscriber, though you will have to register an email and password.

  4. Great Post! If you want to know about your extended family and relatives, must take Ancestral DNA tests. It is different from other tests as it test the entire chromosomes.

  5. I sent my sample in and before the results were ready I had a change in my e-mail address. I believe the results were sent to my old address which is,no,longer active. Can someone tell me how to contact AncestryDNA to advise the change of address

    1. Moira – You should be able to log into Ancestry to retrieve your results. You shouldn’t need the original email from Ancestry to get to it.

  6. I am looking for an Ancestral DNA to be done for me please to see if I’m 100% Irish and to try and find my relations and cousins. Thank you. Marion Hughes. 0877701072

    1. Marion, there is presently a project, undertaken by the College of Surgeons in Dublin which might provide further insight.
      They’re looking more closely for mid-Ulster folk, from your name, this is likely where you hail from, albeit there are Hughes’ in both west Connaught and south west Munster.

    2. Marion, I was part of the recent RCSI study, below,
      https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17124-4
      I obtained results from a. n. Other source showing 99% ancestry, what will matter is just where in Ireland you’re from, and de Mammi, mine being Monaghan, while my Daddi is mid Ulster. Have a wee friend from Wicklow whose great Grandfather is Hughes, but one of them west brit, Welsh, types.

  7. Hi

    I’ve hit such a wall with my grandmother’s side of the tree (Grahams) that DNA testing a male cousin in Scotland seems to be the only next option. I know it’ll be almost 100% Irish but the fella I’m trying to trace is a mystery. Though a rare surname down here in Co.Cork, my John Graham is a dose to track down!

  8. I’ve just done a DNA test with Ancestry.co.uk, and while 2 sets of relatives have matched; the closest match means absolutely nothing – no names, or areas that make any sense!! I contacted the person named, she is in Australia, and she cannot throw any light on the situation. In case my Father is not who my Mother said he was (which could be possible) I am going to get my Sister to do the test as well, we will match as having same Mother, there is no doubt of that, but if it comes up that we have different fathers then I will know that my Mother had a fling with someone else, I need to know the truth, and as I am 67 there is no one who would know the truth, they have all passed on. Is it possible that the DNA match is incorrect? While 2 matches are definitley connected, there are a few names in my ancestry that haven’t come up which I would have expected. Is there any point doing a DNA test with a different Genealogy site? WOuld appreciate any views. Thanks.

  9. Hi. I am thinkin of doin this test. I was adopted as a baby and hoping to find lost family. Would this be worth a try?. Thanks in advance

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